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Boardman takes step toward land bank
BOARDMAN
Trustees took the first step toward creating a township land-reutilization program, similar to a land bank.
The board has approved a resolution to allow a process, as yet to be finalized, that would help the township find new purposes for nonproductive, or vacant, land.
Zoning Inspector Anna Mamone said the goal of the program would be for the township to acquire vacant lots and then sell the lots to neighbors in residential areas or attract new buyers in commercial areas.
“We have had landowners who live next to empty lots ask us about purchasing it, but right now, we don’t have anything in place to help them,” Mamone said.
Administrator Jason Loree said the township would like to work with the Mahoning County land bank, but the two still need “to hammer out the details.”
“We’re interested in vacant lots. ... The county land bank can free and clear the title to the property, and then we can charge an assessment if we knock down a structure, because the lots without structures tend to sell better. Then we can get the land active again and producing tax revenue again,” Loree said.
If the township receives funding from two grants, there could be more than 20 additional vacant lots for sale.
The township has applied for $50,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding for demolition. The proposal must be sent through the county commissioners office by late June.
Although 10 residential properties slated for demolition are listed in the application, the township’s priority in the grant is taking down the Terrace Motel on Market Street, a longtime vacant eyesore, Mamone said.
Trustees have set aside $50,000 in zoning’s 2012 budget for demolition, and that money would be used as matching funds for the grant, Mamone said.
In early May, trustees also approved a resolution to provide $100,000 in matching funds as part of their application for Moving Ohio Forward, the state attorney general’s grant program for the demolition of blighted structures.
Mahoning County is eligible to receive $1,531,680, and Boardman is seeking $100,000. Mamone said there are 26 residential properties on the Moving Ohio Forward grant, including a repeat listing of the 10 residential properties on the CDBG proposal.
The demolitions could cost from $7,000 to $10,000 per structure, depending on abatement and asbestos treatment. This is the first time the township has been eligible to apply for such funding.
“We had never been able to apply for demolition money because usually they are based on the surrounding local incomes, but those requirements aren’t in place for these grants,” Mamone said.
Even though Boardman doesn’t have as many vacant structures as surrounding areas, township officials say neighborhood blight is growing and they want to get ahead of it.
In 2010, the township zoning office sent out 698 letters of zoning violation to property owners. In 2011, the number jumped to 1,139. The township recorded 405 nuisance properties last year, a 37 percent increase from 352 in 2010.
Mamone said the township will continue using its home-rule ordinances and zoning violations to enforce exterior property codes to try to keep up neighborhoods.
“We try to save a structure before it deteriorates to a point where demolition is necessary,” Mamone said.